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Downturn freezes Network upgrades

Managers reluctant to invest in more kit during economic dip

Network managers will squeeze more performance out of their current network infrastructure rather than buy more hardware, according to a report from Giga Research.

Senior industry analyst Jean-Pierre Garbani explained that the current economic downturn means users will "tend to optimise rather than over-engineer" their network infrastructure. "Performance management continues to be at the forefront of IT operational issues," he said.

Garbani pointed out that venture capital was still being invested in infrastructure management companies, confirming market interest. "This should continue even after the economy recovers, since infrastructure management will be an acquired best practice by the end of 2002," he argued.

His comments were echoed by Koby Amedume, vice president at UK-based network management specialist Chevin. He said that IT managers must ensure that sufficient bandwidth is available to meet business needs. But they also need to "avoid falling into the money pit in the process", he added.

Businesses need to understand that the efficient use of network infrastructures can significantly reduce operating and hardware costs, said Amedume.

"Buying more bandwidth, faster switches and additional hardware is not always the answer," he explained. "But in the past IT managers have often been unable to spot the cause of network problems that continue to consume their corporate budgets." P>Network users downloading MP3 or video files over critical routers or switches also need to be identified and dealt with in order to keep networks running smoothly, he pointed out.

Garbani also noted that there would be continued consolidation in the infrastructure management space with 2002 seeing a number of mergers and acquisitions acting as surrogate public offerings.